Bruce Richard
March Madness is upon us and so will be our obsession with seedings, bubble teams, bracket busters and Cinderella teams. So, I thought it would be fun to create a different kinds of March Madness, one based upon all-time sports movies. The best part about it is that the entire “tournament” is completely subjective and everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.
The selection committee, comprised solely of me, has scoured film history over the past 50 years and has come up with the seeds and regions. The Championship Game will be shown a Radio City Music Hall in NYC. As we move along the road to the Final Four, results will be posted and the match-up analysis will be included. So let’s begin with the announcement of the field of 64.
First, the East Region. This region has some of the all-time classics, and is loaded with films involving the fight game. These films will be battered and bruised during regional play.
Raging Bull (Boxing, 1980) # 1 Seed
Cinderella Man (Boxing, (2005) #16 Seed
Rocky (Boxing, 1976) # 2 Seed
Eddie (Basketball, 1996) #15 Seed
Miracle (Hockey, 2004) # 3 Seed
Invictus (Rugby, 2009) #14 Seed
For Love of the Game (Baseball, 1999) #4 Seed
Paper Lion (Football, 1968) #13 Seed
Chariots of Fire (Track, 1981) #5 Seed
42 (Baseball, 2013) #12 Seed
The Replacements (Football, 2000) #6 Seed
Little Giants (Football, 1994) #11 Seed
The Hurricane (Boxing, 1999) #7 Seed
The Fighter (Boxing, 2010) #10 Seed
He Got Game (Basketball, 1998) #8 Seed
Downhill Racer (Skiing, 1969) #9 Seed
We turn to the Mid-West Region, which many are calling the most stacked region of them all. Even the runner-up from this region would seriously challenge the champions of the other regions.
Hoosiers (Basketball, 1986) # 1 Seed
Breaking Away (Cycling 1979) #16 Seed
Rudy (Football, 1993) #2 Seed
Blue Chips (Basketball, 1994) # 15 Seed
The Natural (Baseball, 1984) #3 Seed
Space Jam (Basketball, 1996) #14 Seed
Field of Dreams (Baseball, 1989) #4 Seed
Eight Men Out (baseball, 1988) #13 Seed
Rookie of the Year (Baseball, 1993) #5 Seed
Little Big League (Baseball, 1994) #12 Seed
A League of Their Own (Baseball, 1992) #6 Seed
The Rookie (Baseball, 2002) #11 Seed
Brian’s Song (Football, 1971) #7 Seed
Mighty Ducks (Hockey, 1992) #10 Seed
Major League (Baseball, 1989) #8 Seed
Slap Shot (Hockey, 1977) #9 Seed
We turn to the South Region, which has a combination of comedy and drama, and should have some interesting match-ups:
Remember The Titans (Football, 2000) #1 Seed
One on One (Basketball 1977) #16 Seed
Bull Durham (Baseball, 1988) #2 Seed
Vision Quest (Wrestling, 1985) #15 Seed
Tin Cup (Golf, 1996) #3 Seed
All The Right Moves (Football, 1983) #13 Seed
Friday Night Lights (Football, 2004) #4 Seed
Varsity Blues (Football, 1999) #13 Seed
Ali (Boxing, 2001) #5 Seed
Cool Runnings (Bobsledding, 1993) #12 Seed
Bang The Drum Slowly (Baseball, 1973) #6 Seed
The Wrestler (Wrestling, 2008) #11 Seed
Days of Thunder (Auto Racing, 1990) #7 Seed
Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby (Auto Racing, 2006) # 10 Seed
We Are Marshall (Football, 2006) #8 Seed
Glory Road (College Basketball, 2006) #9 Seed
And lastly, the West Region. There are no real powerhouses but there is depth from top to bottom.
Jerry Maguire (Football, 1996) #1 Seed
Mystery, Alaska (Hockey, 1999) # 16 Seed
Happy Gilmore (Golf, 1996) #2 Seed
Any Given Sunday (Football, 1999) #15 Seed
Karate Kid (Karate, 1984) #3 Seed
Bad News Bears (Baseball, 1976) #14 Seed
Moneyball (Baseball, 2011) #4 Seed
Seabiscuit (Horse Racing 2003) #13 Seed
Longest Yard (Football, 1974) #5 Seed
Million Dollar Baby (Boxing, 2004) #12 Seed
Coach Carter (Basketball, 2005) #6 Seed
White Men Can’t Jump (Basketball, 1992) #11 Seed
The Blind Side (Football 2009) #7 Seed
The Sandlot (Baseball. 1983) #10 Seed
Caddyshack (Golf, 1980) #8 Seed
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Dodgeball, 2004) #9 Seed
Bubble Misses
The following films were on the bubble but are on the outside looking in:
“61”- the story of Roger Maris, which just was not that good a film;
“Cobb”, starring Tommy Lee Jones in the title role and would have appeared to be a shoe-in with a big star and a colorful baseball character but just missed the mark;
“Leatherheads”- a film about the early days of football starring George Clooney, which did not take itself serious enough for us to take it seriously;
“Radio”- starring Cuba “Show Me The Money” Gooding, Jr, largely because he already qualifies for another football movie;
“Invincible”- from 2006 starring Mark Walhberg as former Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale, which just couldn’t finds its place in the field of 64;
“Foxcatcher”- a wrestling movie starring Steve Carrell as the murderous John DuPont, which misses the tournament only because it has not yet been around long enough to build its body of work and stand the test of time;
“North Dallas Forty”- a 1979 football film that missed the cut because I can’t stand the Cowboys; and
“Blades of Glory”- starring Will Ferrell as an figure skating star, largely because figure skating is hard to consider in an all-time sports category.
So, there you have it. Our Field of 64, dominated by football and basketball, but including a wide variety of sports genres. Over the coming weeks, round by round analysis and results will be posted until we can arrive at the top of this impressive field. Grab your popcorn and let the viewings begin.